PGNiG to expand drilling operations overseas

WARSAW

WARSAW Feb 7 Polish gas monopoly PGNiG's
drilling business aims to use funds from its planned
stock market listing to buy new equipment and expand operations
to become a mid-size international onshore player.

PGNiG wants Exalo, previously known as PGNiG Poszukiwania,
to make its debut on the Warsaw bourse by the middle of this
year as it prepares to boost its presence beyond central and
eastern Europe.

"We want to compete with companies that have 80-100 drills,
such as Crosco," Exalo Chief Executive Piotr Truszkowski told
Reuters on Thursday.

The business currently has 54 drills and will need to raise
significant capital to carry out its oil and gas expansion plans
over the next four to five years, with each new drill costing
about 80 million zlotys ($26 million).

Exalo is targeting new markets including Russia and India,
with the aim of generating half its revenues from overseas
operations.
($1 = 3.0804 Polish zlotys)
(Reporting Agnieszka Barteczko and Pawel Bernat; Editing by
David Goodman)